


it's never too late

by hyewonrim



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Hanahaki Disease, Hyerim, Mentions of Blood, everyone but hyewonrim appear briefly, lots of fluff at the end i promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:02:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25108912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyewonrim/pseuds/hyewonrim
Summary: hyejoo realises her feelings only when yerim is on the verge of death. it's a little too late, isn't it?
Relationships: Choi Yerim | Choerry & Son Hyejoo | Olivia Hye, Choi Yerim | Choerry/Park Chaewon | Go Won, Choi Yerim | Choerry/Son Hyejoo | Olivia Hye, Park Chaewon | Go Won/Son Hyejoo | Olivia Hye
Comments: 8
Kudos: 71





	it's never too late

**Author's Note:**

> hello i'm here to provide for the five hyerim shippers out there please enjoy 🤕

the smell of antiseptic made her feel sick.

leaning against the entirely white wall of the hospital waiting room and watching as the time slowly ticked by, hyejoo closed her eyes. the fear of losing the most important person in her life was starting to consume her, knuckles evidently turning white from pressure as a result of clenching them so tightly.

the memories were starting to flood in.

***

_“yerim… you… coughed out a petal…” hyejoo’s voice was laced with worry. she picked up the purple lilac that would have been beautiful if it wasn’t covered with blood, and looked at her best friend, waiting for some sort of explanation._

_“i guess i did,” yerim chuckled weakly, avoiding hyejoo’s gaze._

_“yerim,” she said seriously, taking hold of both the girl’s hands. “this… this disease could kill you, a-and this doesn’t look like the first time it happened! why… why didn’t you tell me?”_

_“i didn’t want you to worry…” the purple haired girl exhaled, eyes trained on the floor._

_“w-who are they for?” the raven haired girl asked, heart convulsing as she watched the shorter girl fidgeting with the hem of her sleeve, still refusing to make eye contact._

_“t-they’re for c-chaewon.” she mumbled, voice barely audible._

_oh._

_of course it was chaewon._

_hyejoo ignored the pain in her chest._

_she always knew there was something going on between the both of them, given how close they had gotten. come to think of it, yerim has been spending a lot more time with chaewon recently, to the point she barely saw her around._

_“does… does she know that you have… this?”_

_yerim shook her head. “no… and you can’t tell her. hyejoo, you have to promise me you won’t tell her.”_

_“yerim, you’ll die, you have to tell her-”_

_“please, hyejoo,” the older girl begged, eyes pleading. “i need some time. just, please, don’t tell her.”_

***

she bit her lip in an attempt to stop the thoughts, cringing as the metallic taste of blood overwhelmed her.

"hyejoo," chaewon reached out to gently touch her shoulder, in an attempt to calm her down. the tall girl stiffened, ironically, shrugging the blonde’s hand off her shoulder as she turned to face her with a scowl.

"yerim's in there because of you." she spat, venom in her voice. she knew it was unreasonable to be putting the blame on the blonde; but the image of yerim collapsing as streaks of blood splattered to the ground, wheezing and coughing until she hacked out a whole fucking lilac haunted hyejoo, the scene repeatedly playing in her mind. the vivid memory of panickedly holding the limp girl in her arms, who still managed to muster a weak smile at her before her breathing slowed and eyes closed made her heart ache, especially since she knew exactly who the flowers were for.

chaewon flinched at the girl’s cold tone. "hyejoo, i know you’re worried, but-"

"for fuck's sake, chaewon! yerim is dying because of unrequited love! those flowers were for you!” she yelled, anger getting the best of her.

silence.

“hyejoo…” chaewon rubbed her temples in frustration. “i...i honestly still don’t know why yerim told you that, but... it’s not true.”

***

_“what do you mean those flowers aren’t for chaewon?” hyejoo narrowed her eyes suspiciously._

_“hyejoo, i stumbled upon her helping yerim after she coughed out another petal yesterday.” heejin lowered her voice, afraid someone was listening to their conversation._

_“impossible,” hyejoo muttered. “she said chaewon doesn’t know about it. she wouldn’t lie to me.”_

_“if i’m being honest,” hyunjin added, glancing between heejin and hyejoo. “i think there’s more to the story. think about it, haven’t they been hanging out a lot more recently?”_

_“yeah,” heejin nods. “if those flowers were really for chae, shouldn’t yerim be… avoiding her? i mean… that’s what i’d do if i were in her situation.”_

_“and the fact chaewon knows about this is… suspicious.” hyunjin continued._

_hyejoo shook her head. “maybe chaewon just happened to walk by. i mean, you’d obviously help someone if you see them coughing out petals, right?”_

***

“what the hell are you talking about?”

“hyejoo, the flowers weren’t for me. in fact, i was the very first person to know about this.”

“what?”

“those flowers, they weren’t for me, hyejoo. i tried to get yerim to tell you the truth, but she refused.”

hyejoo was starting to feel lightheaded.

***

_“not the both of you too.” she groaned, continuing to play on her switch._

_“hyejoo, we’re being serious,” jiwoo sat next to her on the bed._

_“why is everyone telling me that the flowers aren’t for her? first heejin and hyunjin, and now you two. i’m kind of sick of it.” hyejoo paused the game and looked up, facing the older girl._

_“come on, it’s just a little… odd. don’t you think?” sooyoung mused, sitting on the other side of her._

_“no, i don’t know what you guys are thinking.” hyejoo scoffed._

_“you don’t think it’s weird at all?” jiwoo frowned._

_“why would yerim continue hanging out with her if the flowers are really for her? wouldn't that just worsen her condition?” sooyoung reasoned._

_she ignored them, resuming the game that she was playing before._

***

“t-then why did she tell me they were for you?” hyejoo closed her eyes once again, trying to prevent the pounding headache that was coming.

“i... i really don’t know. i guess she regretted doing that, though, since she kind of avoided you later on.”

***

_“hyejoo, did anything happen between you and yerim recently?” haseul asked with genuine concern, followed by kahei and yeojin stepping into the room as well._

_“no, why?”_

_“you two used to be inseparable,” kahei answered. “but... you seem to have grown apart.”_

_“that’s not true,” hyejoo defended, despite knowing full well that kahei was right._

_“hyejoo, you should really talk to yerim.” yeojin advised, haseul and kahei agreeing._

_“i’m sure she’s fine. she has chaewon with her, after all.” hyejoo shrugged them off._

***

“if they’re not for you... w-who are they for, then?”

“are... are you sure you want me to tell you the truth? like, really?”

“chaewon, just tell me. who are they really for?” hyejoo snapped, impatient because of the other girl’s hesitance.

the blonde sighed. “they’re for you, hyejoo. yerim is in love with you.”

***

_“aww, look, jungie! our baby yerim’s going on a date with her girlfriend! she’s all grown up now!” jinsol teased, wiping a fake tear from her eye._

_“yah, jinsol! she’s not my girlfriend, and we’re not going on a date!” yerim huffed, shooting a playful glare at the older girl._

_“you wish she was your girlfriend, though!” jinsol burst into laughter as the girl flushed bright red._

_“come on sol, stop teasing her!” jungeun scolded, trying to stifle her own laughter as the youngest girl was now pouting at them._

_none of them had noticed hyejoo in the room, waiting for the purple haired girl so they could catch that movie she had been endlessly talking about together._

***

hyejoo fell to the ground as realisation dawned on her.

how stupid was she? there were already signs from ages ago, yet she had no idea how her best friend felt towards her. even worse, she refused to believe what her friends had been telling her all along, instead choosing not to do anything. she felt that she would have been invading if she ever tried to approach yerim; since chaewon had consistently been by her side.

and she finally accepted what she had been refusing to all along.

***

_“yerim,” hyejoo called, turning towards her best friend._

_“hmm?” the older hummed, facing the tall girl with that beautiful signature smile of hers. hyejoo swore she didn’t see any stars that night -- they were all in the purple haired girl’s eyes._

_“why me?”_

_“what do you mean?” yerim furrowed her eyebrows in confusion._

_“like,” hyejoo took a deep breath. “you and i are complete opposites. you’re good at expressing your emotions, while i’m not all that good at it. you’re so bright and lively, and you’re like a social butterfly, while i prefer to keep to myself. why me, of all people?”_

_“it has always been you,” yerim simply responded. “it doesn’t matter if we’re different. what matters is that i love you for who you are, and you love me for who i am.”_

***

love.

she was in love with her best friend too.

was she too late to realise?

“hyejoo...” chaewon knelt next to her, rubbing circles on her back.

“i’m so stupid,” she cried out, tears spilling down her face uncontrollably. “it was me who had been hurting her all along... t-this is all my fault, she’s in this state because of me!”

“don’t say that,” the blonde spoke in a soft, reassuring tone. “yerim wouldn’t want you to be reproaching yourself... it’s not your fault.”

“c-chaewon, i-i don’t want to lose her, i c-can’t lose her!”

“you won’t lose her,” chaewon pulled the younger girl in a hug, wrapping her arms around her. "yerim's a strong girl, you know that."

"w-why didn't she just tell me the truth? none of this would have happened if she did..." hyejoo melted into the smaller girl's embrace, tears still streaming down her cheeks, like raindrops rolling down a window on a rainy day.

"she thought that you only saw her as a best friend... she didn't want to ruin your friendship," chaewon let out a small sigh. "she told me that you saw her coughing out that petal, and in her panic she said it was for me."

"is that why you have been so close recently?"

the blonde nodded. "i've been with her all along to help her through this. i tried getting her to tell you the truth, but she said she'd rather suffer than to lose her friendship with you."

"i should've realised it sooner," the raven haired girl whispered. "i'm too late."

"stop talking like that, yerim isn't going to die," the older girl stated firmly, reaching out to wipe the tears from the taller girl's face. “and it's never too late. it's always better to be late than never, right?”

at that moment, nine girls burst into the room, a few of them with tear-stricken faces and the rest with visible expressions of worry on their faces.

“i-is yerim o-okay?” jungeun questioned anxiously, jinsol holding her hand and rubbing it reassuringly to calm her down.

“she’s still in there,” chaewon frowned. "it's been nearly an hour."

the door slid open, and a doctor, as well as several nurses came into sight. all eleven girls rushed up to them.

"h-how's yerim?" hyejoo immediately asked the doctor, the rest of her friends looking at her hopefully.

"she's alive," the doctor smiled. "she's a strong one. she fought very hard for her life, and she succeeded."

the girls visibly relaxed, breathing out sighs of relief and muttering their thanks.

"can i go see her?"

the doctor looked at hyejoo with a knowing smile, "of course you can."

walking towards the room yerim was in, hyejoo took a deep breath. _talk to her. just tell her about how you feel and how much she means to you._

"hyejoo?"

she looked up and saw yerim sitting up in bed, head cutely tilted to the side, and forgot everything that she had wanted to say.

yerim must have thought that hyejoo's silence meant that she was mad at her, because she started rambling, "i-i'm s-sorry, hyejoo, i-i must've made you really worried, i-"

the tall girl wordlessly wrapped her in an embrace, burying her face in the crook of the older girl's neck. yerim gasped, taken aback. getting over her shock, she hesitantly put her arms around hyejoo. they stayed there for a couple of minutes, hyejoo being the first to pull away. yerim immediately missed the warmth.

"why didn't you tell me the truth?"

yerim's eyes widened. _chaewon must've told her._ she looked away, hands fidgeting with the edge of the bed sheet.

"yerim," hyejoo cupped her cheek, gently lifting her head up. "i'm not mad, i just want to know why you chose to hurt yourself like that."

"i was scared that you'd leave me," yerim whispered, eyes refusing to meet hyejoo's.

"i'd never leave you, yerim."

"i-i'm sorry…" the older girl whimpered, lips trembling.

“no, i’m sorry,” hyejoo opened her arms wide. “come here.”

yerim complied, melting into hyejoo’s embrace. “i was an idiot. it took me this long to realise that i had feelings for you.”

“you... what?” the older girl looked up at her in disbelief, afraid that her ears were deceiving her.

hyejoo played with her hair, softly gazing at her. “i have feelings for you. i’m in love with you, yerim. i hope i'm not too late.”

"it's never too late," yerim smiled up at her. "i'm in love with you too, hyejoo."

hyejoo placed a light kiss on the girl's forehead. yerim could feel her stomach erupting into butterflies as the taller girl brushed strands of hair away from her face.

their faces were just inches apart; the purple haired girl could feel the younger girl's warm breath against her skin. yerim shyly gazed at the girl's lips, which were adorably triangular shaped. the raven haired seemed to notice the gesture because her own gaze shifted to yerim's lips, and soon they were kissing each other ever so gently, as if afraid that they would lose the other.

pulling away, both girls hummed in content as they pressed their foreheads together.

"i love you, choi yerim, so, so much."

"i love you too, son hyejoo." yerim giggled, nuzzling into hyejoo's neck.

**Author's Note:**

> hope this was okay!
> 
> twt: jeonginsideout


End file.
